China praises Tiananmen stir catalyst

BEIJING: Reformist Chinese leader Hu Yaobang, whose death led to the 1989 Tiananmen protests, was offered rare praise by a newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party on Monday, the anniversary of his demise.

Hu, general secretary of the party when Deng Xiaoping was China's paramount leader, remains a sensitive figure because of his link to the democracy demonstrations, which authorities quashed with military force and suppress mention of even today.

He was dismissed in 1987 after allowing students in Beijing to hold initial protests, and new rallies erupted after his death. But on Monday the Communist party posted a photo slideshow of Hu on its website, while the Liberation Daily, which is run by the propaganda bureau of the Shanghai Communist Party, highlighted other aspects of his career. It praised Hu for working to rehabilitate purged officials, which helped bring the party out of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, and for initiating a drive for openness and reform.